General Assembly Passes Budget

by Tony McVeigh, Kentucky Public RadioIt was touch and go most of Friday, but in the end, the Kentucky General Assembly approved a new state budget.The logjam broke Friday afternoon, after a meeting between House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President David Williams in Williams’ office.  As he emerged from the meeting, Speaker Stumbo announced the good news to a swarm of reporters.“We’re all trying to accomplish the same things," he says. "We were saying the same things.  We just happened to be saying it in little bit different ways.”At issue were dilapidated schools across the commonwealth, and the new budget addresses the problem.“To make sure that the districts are given an opportunity – all of them – to build these Category Five schools, in a fair and equitable manner," said Stumbo.The compromise budget later passed the House 86-7, the Senate 35-0, clearing the way for adjournment of the special session on day five, as scheduled.